Marine Fisheries

Braxton C. Davis, Director, Division of Marine Fisheries, hereby announces that effective at 12:01 A.M., Saturday, November 19, 2016, the following restrictions will apply to the harvest of spiny dogfish in the North Carolina Coastal Fishing Waters:

This proclamation opens the spiny dogfish fishery and establishes a 20,000 pound trip limit. The fishery will close by proclamation once the quota has been reached, or at 6:00 P.M. on April 30, 2017, whichever occurs first.

I. TRIP LIMIT AND SEASON

A. It is unlawful for a commercial fishing operation, regardless of the number of people involved to possess more than 20,000 pounds of spiny dogfish per trip.

B. The commercial spiny dogfish fishery will close by proclamation once the quota has been reached or at 6:00 P.M., April 30, 2017, whichever occurs first.

B. It is unlawful to violate the provisions of any proclamation issued by the Director under his delegated authority pursuant to N.C. Fisheries Commission Rule 15A NCAC 03H .0103.

C. The NMFS Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan prohibits the use of gill nets with a stretched mess length greater than 5 inches or less than 7 inches at night from November 1 through April 30 in all Atlantic Ocean state waters.

D. The NMFS Bottlenose Dolphin Take Reduction Plan prohibits the use of gill nets with a stretched mesh length greater than or equal to 7 inches, at night from December 16 through April 14, unless tie downs are used in Atlantic Ocean state waters from the NC/VA border (36° 33’ N) to Cape Lookout (34° 35.4’N). Tie downs shall be spaced not more than 15 feet apart along the float line, not more than 48 inches in length from the point where it connects to the float line to the point where it connects to the lead line. Night is any time between one hour after sunset and one hour prior to sunrise.

E. Finfish dealers are required to possess a valid Spiny Dogfish Dealer Permit and adhere to the daily reporting requirements in accordance with the current Spiny Dogfish Dealer Permit proclamation.

F. The intent of this proclamation is to manage the North Carolina spiny dogfish annual quota established by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Spiny Dogfish Management Board, following the guidelines of the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for spiny dogfish.

G. In accordance with N.C. General Statute 113-221.1(c) All persons who may be affected by proclamations issued by the Fisheries Director are under a duty to keep themselves informed of current proclamations.

I. This proclamation opens the spiny dogfish commercial fishery and establishes a 20,000 pound trip limit in state waters. The fishery will close by proclamation once the quota has been reached, or at 6:00 P.M. on April 30, 2017, whichever occurs first.